What you should know about your hermit crab

Hermit crabs are becoming pretty popular pets given their advantages over the more common domestic animals such as cats and dogs. They are not smelly, do not cause allergies and do not make noise.

Hermit crabs naturally live in the tropical climate. The reason for this is that they need a lot of moisture and warmth. If you are a hermit crab proprietor, be sure to not overdue this part as it can hurt your pet. You should consult some expert material on how to do this but be careful though, it will not be easy finding quality information.

Although crustaceans are known to live a solitary life, hermit crabs are far from it. Solitariness goes against their nature and in fact, they may even not survive by being in solitary confinement. They enjoy the company of others like them and not only that but if kept together, they will more often than not be happier and healthier as well.

Hermit crabs hibernate by burying themselves in the substrate. This process is better known as molting, or shedding the old exoskeleton in favor of a newly developed one. This is also the period in which they are most tender. They remain hidden in the soil this whole period.

Because they have a soft abdomen, hermit crabs need snail shells to protect themselves. They also have to frequently replace them, as they grow larger. It is much advised for pet owners to render them with a sufficient number of shells of different sizes for their pets to opt from. The shells also have the role of preserving moisture, a life-sustaining component of the hermit crab.

Many crab owners have their pets live anywhere from a couple of months to a few years, when in truth, hermit crabs can live up to three decades, if properly cared for. The reason for their short lifespan in captivity is because of the lack of information about these little animals. They require special living conditions and few sources cite that in detail.

So far as these little creatures have all the conditions met, they will live for decades. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when caring for hermit crabs: keep them in clean spaces only, provide sufficient moisture (provide water sources, both fresh and salt water), provide decent temperature, take dependable measures so that they will not leave the living home ground and hence be uncovered to unfitting living conditions, feed them the right food and in the right amount and finally, do not let other animals that may hurt your hermit crabs, near them.

This entry was posted on 19. May 2010 at 04:57 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.